Adopting Agile Workflows

Before you roll out Scrum, read this. These 9 lessons could make or break your organization’s agile transformation. At last night’s PMI Chicagoland Annual Business Meeting, David Schwab (William Everett) and Annie Reyes (CASL) shared how Scrum helped shift their organization from siloed planning to collaborative, high-impact delivery. Their nonprofit journey mirrors many of the same challenges and wins I’ve seen in the for-profit world. These lessons are universal—and essential for anyone navigating agile adoption. Here are 9 insights that stood out: ✅ Scrum isn’t just for tech. ↳ It brings speed, alignment, and coordination—even in resource-constrained, people-first environments. ✅ Scrum thrives in ambiguity. ↳ From program launches to cross-functional initiatives, Scrum aligns diverse teams—even when the roadmap is unclear or evolving. ✅ Culture first, then process. ↳ Scrum cannot fix dysfunction, poor leadership, or burnout. It needs trust, psychological safety, and purpose-driven routines. It will shine a light on dysfunction—organizations should be prepared to confront and learn from it. ✅ Start small, scale smart. ↳ Early leader buy-in and time to understand the new ways of working increases the odds of successful adoption across the organization. ✅ Don’t drop the whole playbook on Day 1. ↳ Jumping in with full Scrum terminology and structure can overwhelm teams unfamiliar with agile. Introduce it in plain language and build fluency over time. ✅ Invest in a quality Scrum Master. ↳ One of CASL’s success factors was having an experienced Scrum Master from the start. A trained facilitator is critical to guide, educate, and sustain the team’s momentum. I've seen organizations skip this step—and it significantly derailed adoption. ✅ “Blurry roles lead to blurry results” ↳ When everyone knows their lane, teams move faster, take ownership, and build momentum. Role clarity is critical to a successful rollout—people must not only understand their roles but also be coached to them. ✅ Agility is about people and mindset—not just tools. ↳ Change management and leadership are essential. Expect to spend time coaching your teams, guiding behaviors, and managing resistance. ✅ Retrospectives are the secret sauce. ↳ They create a safe space for feedback and empower voices across titles. These sessions increase engagement, build trust, and generate insights that fuel continuous improvement. The biggest lesson? Agility is about people. It’s not about the framework—it’s about leadership. Reshare to help other leaders navigate their agile transformation. What lessons have you learned when implementing agility in your organization? Drop them in the comments below. 👇 ♻️ Reshare to help other leaders navigate their agile transformation. ➕ Follow Morgan Davis, PMP, PROSCI, MBA Davis for practical insights on leading organizational change and building agile, high-impact teams.

Digital acceleration requires more than just adopting agile methodologies; it demands a fundamental shift in organizational culture and mindset. It's about creating a culture that embraces change, innovation, and customer-centricity. In my experience, successful agile transformations hinge on: Empowered and Cross-Functional Teams: This involves fostering a culture of autonomy, ownership, and collaboration. Agile teams should be empowered to make decisions, take ownership of their work, and have the necessary skills and resources to deliver value. Cross-functional collaboration is essential to break down silos and ensure that teams have all the expertise they need to deliver customer-centric solutions. Relentless Customer-Centricity and Iterative Development: Agile is about putting the customer at the heart of everything you do. This involves continuously gathering customer feedback, iterating on products and services based on that feedback, and delivering value to customers in small, incremental steps. It's about embracing a mindset of continuous improvement and learning from every iteration. A Culture of Experimentation, Learning, and Continuous Improvement: Agile organizations embrace a culture of experimentation, where it's safe to try new things, learn from failures, and continuously improve processes and outcomes. This involves fostering a growth mindset, encouraging innovation, and providing the necessary support and resources for teams to experiment and learn. Agile isn't just about speed; it's about creating adaptable, customer-focused organizations that can thrive in a rapidly changing digital landscape. What cultural shifts do you see as essential for successful agile transformations, particularly in large, complex organizations? #AgileTransformation #DigitalTransformation #AgileLeadership #OrganizationalCulture #Innovation #CultureChange

𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝗧 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗔𝗴𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 & 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 Traditional IT structures often slow down responsiveness and innovation. To enhance agility and operational efficiency, IT departments should shift toward cross-functional, business-aligned models that promote faster decision-making and streamlined execution. Key strategies include:  ✅ Adopting Agile Methodologies: cross-functional teams (squads) working in short cycles ensure rapid adaptability. ✅ Decentralized Decision-Making: empowering team leads to act quickly eliminates bureaucratic delays. ✅ Flat Hierarchical Structures: fewer management layers improve communication and collaboration. ✅ Integration with Business Units: embedding IT within business areas ensures alignment and accelerates issue resolution. The result? A more responsive, innovative, and business-driven IT function that fuels Digital Transformation. How is your IT department adapting to today’s business challenges? Let’s share insights with Digital Transformation Strategist! #digitaltransformation #ittransformation #digitalleadership #operationalexcellence #agileit

🌟Why achieving business agility is so hard, and what to do about it🌟   In today's business landscape, achieving true agility is more crucial than ever. Organizations around the world are embracing agile methodologies to stay competitive, deliver value to their customers, and respond to market changes rapidly. However, the path to achieving business agility is fraught with challenges. Many articles have been written on the failures and why organizations go wrong and three common pitfalls stand out:   Firstly, agile methods are adopted department by department, without considering the broader organizational context. The result? A lack of needed synchronization and alignment on terminology.   Secondly, an academic implementation; rather than recognizing that each organization is different, and every implementation requires some level of customization.   Thirdly, a focus on “doing” rather than “being” agile. Otherwise put, a lack of focus on the cultural and mindset shift needed to reap the benefits.   At RGR Advisory, we developed a custom framework, The Five Foundations of Organizational Agility, which when employed ahead of methodology adoption, pre-empts all those pitfalls.   🏠It is designed to lay the groundwork for agile transformations and goes beyond a surface-level application of methodologies. It focuses on building the foundational components necessary for any agile method to unlock the highly desired agility benefits.   1. Cross-Functional Collaboration: Silos are the Achilles' heel of agility. Our approach breaks down these barriers, fostering collaboration across departments, adopting agile methods holistically. 2. Organize around Value: This foundation not only unlocks true customer centricity, but it is also the basis for embodying collaboration. 3. Holistic Capacity-based planning: Establishing the first two foundations, allows for integrated, holistic planning, which optimizes your investment strategy, resource management and focus. 4. Cadence-based planning and delivery: Every organization needs a heartbeat that allows for intermediate execution progress reviews, (re)prioritization and (re)committing to goals. 5. Lean Governance: True agility is an ongoing journey. Mechanisms are needed for learning, feedback, and adaptation, ensuring that agility is a part of the organization's DNA, and a growth mindset is unlocked.   The  road to achieving business agility is challenging but unavoidable! To truly reap the benefits, it's vital to go beyond a superficial adoption of agile practices. At RGR Advisory, we're committed to helping organizations build the cultural and structural foundations necessary to thrive within the ever-changing business landscape.   Thoughts on the pitfalls and/or our framework? 🗨️DM me or share your thoughts below!   And if you'd like to learn more on how we can assist your organization, DM me! www.RGRAdvisory.com #BusinessAgility #Resiliency #AgileTransformation #Growthmindset #Collaboration

🚀 Utilizing Agile Principles for Complex Projects 🌟 In my 15+ years as an IT Project Manager, I've learned that complex projects often demand a flexible approach. That's where Agile principles come into play! Here’s how I effectively leverage Agile methodologies: 1️⃣ Iterative Development: Break projects into smaller increments. This allows teams to deliver functional parts sooner and adapt based on feedback. 2️⃣ Cross-Functional Teams: Foster collaboration across various disciplines. Combining skills from different areas leads to innovative solutions and faster problem-solving. 3️⃣ Customer Feedback: Engaging stakeholders early and often ensures the end product meets expectations. Regular reviews can guide necessary adjustments in real-time. 4️⃣ Emphasize Communication: Daily stand-ups and regular retrospectives keep the team aligned, enhancing transparency and quick decision-making. 5️⃣ Encourage Adaptability: In a tech landscape that shifts rapidly, being open to change is crucial. Agile isn’t just a method; it’s a mindset. By embedding these Agile principles into complex projects, we can manage uncertainties more effectively and drive successful outcomes. Remember, the goal is not just to deliver but to continuously improve the process. What Agile practices have you found most effective in your projects? Let’s discuss below! 👇 #Agile #ProjectManagement #Leadership #Tech #LifestyleHacks #AI #ContinuousImprovement